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Happening on Campus

Hillel Blog

On Friday, January 31st, 150 University of Chicago students participated in Israel Mega Shabbat, hosted by Newberger Hillel. Students dined on Israeli cuisine and heard from Roey Gilad, Israel's Consul General of Israel to the Midwest. In addition, Professor Charles Lipson, the Peter B. Ritzma Professor in Political Science, facilitated the discussion of politics in Israel today. Student leadership were seated with Roey Gilad, Professor Lipson, and Professor Sam Peltzman, the Ralph and Dorothy Keller Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus of Economics at the Booth School of Business. Israel Mega Shabbat was alsoa place where birthright alumni were able to meet up and reminisce about their trips.

Welcoming the secular new year also means welcoming a fresh group of motivated Bradley Students into leadership at Bradley Hillel. They are enthused and eager to take the reins. The incoming student executive board consists of the following driven individuals:

as President, Ron Taxer, a sophomore television arts major from Buffalo Grove, Illinois;as Treasurer, Samantha Newmark, a freshman accounting major from Chesterfield, Missouri;as Vice President of Programming, Nora Cook, a sophomore psychology major from Louisville, Kentucky;as Secretary, Mitchell Liss, a sophomore biology major from Vernon Hills, Illinois;as Communications Vice President, Bridget Berkow, a freshman hospitality leadership major from Denver, Colorado;as Food Manager, Nat Kahn, a junior pre-liberal arts and sciences major from Northbrook, Illinois; and, as House Manager, Greg Adler, a junior social work major, from St. Louis, Missouri.

With the support of the board and Rabbi Daniel Bogard, Ron is looking forward to implementing new regular programing on Wednesday nights.

“I am most excited about the new semester, because we will be broadening our programs, hoping to bring more people to Hillel,” Ron commented.

But enhancing programing is not Ron’s only ambition as president.

“I also hope to work effectively with my peers, to use and combine their strengths and take Hillel to the next level.” Ron explained.

Nat is also excited to work with his peers. He wants to create a fun environment and commented, “Lets do things that will help improve our group and our social network while hanging out and getting to know each other.”

Mitchell is eager to share his strengths with an organization that is so important to him. “My position as Secretary is perfect for me because I'm always on top of things, so event information and board minutes will be quickly distributed.”

As the new semester begins, so does a fresh and exciting start for Bradley University Hillel.

Eric Fingerhut, the new CEO and President of Hillel: The
Foundation for Jewish Campus Life, visited the University of Illinois Hillel in Urbana-Champaign on October 10th. Although he may not have been there
before, at least not in his current role, Hillel itself certainly has been
there – and for longer than anywhere else. Ninety years ago, the campus was
where the first Hillel was born. Today, on Fingerhut’s watch, there are more
than 500 worldwide.

As he stopped at the UofI’s Margie K. and Louis N. Cohen
Center for Jewish Life, as part of a cross-country tour of campuses, Fingerhut greeted
participants at a new and innovative Illini student initiative, Hire U. The effort is dedicated to
providing professional development to college students through a Jewish lens. Fingerhut
told the 50 attendees to find their passion and let that drive their professional
career.

Delivering the inaugural presentation at the event was Phyllis
Tabachnick, Managing Director at JP Morgan and Co-Chair of The Hillels of Illinois,
who spoke about her own professional and personal Jewish journey.

Later, at a reception for Champaign’s Jewish community, two
dozen faculty, community members, Hillel staff and students, and representatives
of the Champaign-Urbana Jewish Federation met with Fingerhut. There he presented a plaque to Erez Cohen, the
campus Hillel’s Executive Director, in celebration of Illini Hillel’s 90th anniversary.

Earlier in the day, in Chicago, Fingerhut met with key lay
leaders and staff of the Hillels of Illinois and the Jewish United Fund/Jewish
Federation of Metropolitan Chicago. Discussing his first 50 days in office and reaffirming
the importance of the Hillel/JUF partnership, he stressed the significance of instilling
a sense of Jewish community – klal
yisrael – and a love of Israel into Jewish campus life. He specifically
pointed to JUF’s Israel Education Center as a model for Birthright recruitment
and follow up, and for educating students about how critical Israel is to their
Jewish identity.